This book traces the figure of the alchemist in Western literature from its first appearance in Dante down to the present. From the beginning alchemy has had two aspects: exoteric or operative (the ...
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This book traces the figure of the alchemist in Western literature from its first appearance in Dante down to the present. From the beginning alchemy has had two aspects: exoteric or operative (the transmutation of baser metals into gold) and esoteric or speculative (the spiritual transformation of the alchemist himself). From Dante to Ben Jonson, during the centuries when the belief in exoteric alchemy was still strong, writers in many literatures treated alchemists with ridicule. From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, as that belief weakened, the figure of the alchemist disappeared, even though Protestant poets in England and Germany were still fond of alchemical images. But when eighteenth-century science undermined alchemy, the figure of the alchemist began to emerge again in literature—now as a humanitarian hero or as a spirit striving for sublimation. As scholarly interest in alchemy intensified, writers were attracted to the figure of the alchemist and his quest for power. The fin de siècle witnessed a further transformation as some poets saw in the alchemist a symbol for the poet and others a manifestation of religious spirit. During the interwar years many writers turned to the figure of the alchemist as a spiritual model or as a national figurehead. This tendency, theorized by C. G. Jung, inspired after World War II a popularization of the figure in the novel. In sum: the figure of the alchemist in literature provides a seismograph for major shifts in intellectual and cultural history.Less

The Alchemist in Literature : From Dante to the Present

Theodore Ziolkowski

Published in print: 2015-10-01

This book traces the figure of the alchemist in Western literature from its first appearance in Dante down to the present. From the beginning alchemy has had two aspects: exoteric or operative (the transmutation of baser metals into gold) and esoteric or speculative (the spiritual transformation of the alchemist himself). From Dante to Ben Jonson, during the centuries when the belief in exoteric alchemy was still strong, writers in many literatures treated alchemists with ridicule. From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, as that belief weakened, the figure of the alchemist disappeared, even though Protestant poets in England and Germany were still fond of alchemical images. But when eighteenth-century science undermined alchemy, the figure of the alchemist began to emerge again in literature—now as a humanitarian hero or as a spirit striving for sublimation. As scholarly interest in alchemy intensified, writers were attracted to the figure of the alchemist and his quest for power. The fin de siècle witnessed a further transformation as some poets saw in the alchemist a symbol for the poet and others a manifestation of religious spirit. During the interwar years many writers turned to the figure of the alchemist as a spiritual model or as a national figurehead. This tendency, theorized by C. G. Jung, inspired after World War II a popularization of the figure in the novel. In sum: the figure of the alchemist in literature provides a seismograph for major shifts in intellectual and cultural history.

This book examines the far-reaching legacy of one of the great myths of classical antiquity. According to Greek legend, Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, secretly buried her brother in defiance of the ...
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This book examines the far-reaching legacy of one of the great myths of classical antiquity. According to Greek legend, Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, secretly buried her brother in defiance of the orders of Creon, King of Thebes. Creon sentenced Antigone to death, but, before the order could be executed, she committed suicide. The theme of the conflict between Antigone and Creon — between the state and the individual, between young and old, between men and women — has captured the Western imagination for more than 2,000 years. Antigone and Creon are as alive in the politics and poetics of our own day as they were in ancient Athens. Here, the book examines the treatment of the Antigone theme in Western art, literature and thought, leading us to look again at the unique influence Greek myths exercised on 20th-century culture.Less

Antigones

George Steiner

Published in print: 1986-01-23

This book examines the far-reaching legacy of one of the great myths of classical antiquity. According to Greek legend, Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, secretly buried her brother in defiance of the orders of Creon, King of Thebes. Creon sentenced Antigone to death, but, before the order could be executed, she committed suicide. The theme of the conflict between Antigone and Creon — between the state and the individual, between young and old, between men and women — has captured the Western imagination for more than 2,000 years. Antigone and Creon are as alive in the politics and poetics of our own day as they were in ancient Athens. Here, the book examines the treatment of the Antigone theme in Western art, literature and thought, leading us to look again at the unique influence Greek myths exercised on 20th-century culture.

John Aubrey (1626–1697), antiquary, natural philosopher, and virtuoso, is best remembered today for his Brief Lives, biographies of his contemporaries filled with luminous detail which have been ...
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John Aubrey (1626–1697), antiquary, natural philosopher, and virtuoso, is best remembered today for his Brief Lives, biographies of his contemporaries filled with luminous detail which have been mined for anecdotes by generations of scholars. However, Aubrey was much more than merely the hand behind an invaluable source of biographical material; he was also the author of thousands of pages of manuscript notebooks covering everything from the origins of Stonehenge to the evolution of folklore. This work studies these manuscripts in full for the first time and, in doing so, explores the intellectual history of Aubrey’s investigations into Britain’s past. As such, the present volume is both a major new study of an important early modern writer and a significant intervention in the developing historiography of antiquarianism. It discusses the key aspects of Aubrey’s work in a series of linked chapters on archaeology, architecture, biography, folklore, and philology, concluding with a revisionist interpretation of Aubrey’s antiquarian writings. While covering a wide variety of scholarly territory, it remains rooted in the common thread of Aubrey’s own intellectual development and the continual interaction between his texts as he studied, discovered, revised, and rewrote them across four decades. Its conclusions not only substantially reshape our understanding of Aubrey and his writings, but also provide new understandings of the methodologies, ambitions, and achievements of antiquarianism across early modern Europe.Less

The Antiquary : John Aubrey's Historical Scholarship

Kelsey Jackson Williams

Published in print: 2016-08-01

John Aubrey (1626–1697), antiquary, natural philosopher, and virtuoso, is best remembered today for his Brief Lives, biographies of his contemporaries filled with luminous detail which have been mined for anecdotes by generations of scholars. However, Aubrey was much more than merely the hand behind an invaluable source of biographical material; he was also the author of thousands of pages of manuscript notebooks covering everything from the origins of Stonehenge to the evolution of folklore. This work studies these manuscripts in full for the first time and, in doing so, explores the intellectual history of Aubrey’s investigations into Britain’s past. As such, the present volume is both a major new study of an important early modern writer and a significant intervention in the developing historiography of antiquarianism. It discusses the key aspects of Aubrey’s work in a series of linked chapters on archaeology, architecture, biography, folklore, and philology, concluding with a revisionist interpretation of Aubrey’s antiquarian writings. While covering a wide variety of scholarly territory, it remains rooted in the common thread of Aubrey’s own intellectual development and the continual interaction between his texts as he studied, discovered, revised, and rewrote them across four decades. Its conclusions not only substantially reshape our understanding of Aubrey and his writings, but also provide new understandings of the methodologies, ambitions, and achievements of antiquarianism across early modern Europe.

The presentation of the magical and mantic in Celtic literature has persistently been dogged by misunderstanding and over-romanticised readings. Among the misconceptions about the ancient and ...
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The presentation of the magical and mantic in Celtic literature has persistently been dogged by misunderstanding and over-romanticised readings. Among the misconceptions about the ancient and medieval Celtic peoples, the notion of a specifically ‘Celtic’ astrology remains widespread in the popular mind. This study aims to counter such myth-making, and to demonstrate how a number Irish and Welsh literary writers in the medieval and Early Modern period conceived of portents in the heavens — comets, blood-coloured moons, darkened suns — and what they knew of the complex art of astrology. The book examines the dissemination of concepts of portents and the science of the stars on the Celtic fringe from a literary perspective. A central concern is to provide an examination of the classes of people represented as expert in the interpretation of celestial portents: the early Irish annal-writer, the literary druid, the seer, the mythical prophet Merlin, and the learned Welsh poet of the late Middle Ages and beyond.Less

Mark Williams

Published in print: 2010-09-02

The presentation of the magical and mantic in Celtic literature has persistently been dogged by misunderstanding and over-romanticised readings. Among the misconceptions about the ancient and medieval Celtic peoples, the notion of a specifically ‘Celtic’ astrology remains widespread in the popular mind. This study aims to counter such myth-making, and to demonstrate how a number Irish and Welsh literary writers in the medieval and Early Modern period conceived of portents in the heavens — comets, blood-coloured moons, darkened suns — and what they knew of the complex art of astrology. The book examines the dissemination of concepts of portents and the science of the stars on the Celtic fringe from a literary perspective. A central concern is to provide an examination of the classes of people represented as expert in the interpretation of celestial portents: the early Irish annal-writer, the literary druid, the seer, the mythical prophet Merlin, and the learned Welsh poet of the late Middle Ages and beyond.

The origins of many of the Icelandic sagas have long been the subject of critical speculation and controversy. This book demonstrates that an investigation into the relationship between verse and ...
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The origins of many of the Icelandic sagas have long been the subject of critical speculation and controversy. This book demonstrates that an investigation into the relationship between verse and prose in saga narrative can be used to reconstruct how Icelandic sagas were composed; to this end it provides a detailed analysis of the Kormáks saga, whose hero Kormákr is one of the most celebrated of Icelandic poets. Over 60 of his passionate, cryptic skaldic stanzas are quoted in the saga, and the way they and the saga prose are fitted together reveals that the Kormáks saga, far from being a seamless narrative of either pre-Christian oral tradition or later medieval fiction, is in fact a patchwork of different kinds of literary materials. This book offers a way of understanding not only the compositional method and distinctive aesthetic qualities of the Kormáks saga, but also the genesis of many other Icelandic saga narratives.Less

The Genesis of a Saga Narrative : Verse and Prose in Kormaks Saga

Heather O'Donoghue

Published in print: 1991-04-11

The origins of many of the Icelandic sagas have long been the subject of critical speculation and controversy. This book demonstrates that an investigation into the relationship between verse and prose in saga narrative can be used to reconstruct how Icelandic sagas were composed; to this end it provides a detailed analysis of the Kormáks saga, whose hero Kormákr is one of the most celebrated of Icelandic poets. Over 60 of his passionate, cryptic skaldic stanzas are quoted in the saga, and the way they and the saga prose are fitted together reveals that the Kormáks saga, far from being a seamless narrative of either pre-Christian oral tradition or later medieval fiction, is in fact a patchwork of different kinds of literary materials. This book offers a way of understanding not only the compositional method and distinctive aesthetic qualities of the Kormáks saga, but also the genesis of many other Icelandic saga narratives.

This book describes and analyses the enduring interest in the last of the race through investigation into different treatments by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century writers. The analysis is ...
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This book describes and analyses the enduring interest in the last of the race through investigation into different treatments by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century writers. The analysis is influenced by both literary expressions and extensive reading of the historical accounts, diaries, and newspaper reports of individuals who have represented the last of their kind. Fictional and real-life accounts of last men and women were compared and found to be enlightening. The biography of Pu Yi or the history of St Kilda may also help explain novels, such as The Last Man by Mary Shelley, and provide insights into the psychology of the sole survivor and the social significance of the unique symbols. More insights into a literary figure, such as James Macpherson's Ossian (the last of Fingal's race), could be derived from the Reminiscences of Michael O'Guiheen (the last poet of the Great Blasket Island) more so than from a lot of academic woks. This literature presents an excellent example of the now unclear boundaries between fact and fiction, since the author's recollections of the Great Blasket Island community are interspersed with literary allusions to the Oisin of Irish legend. The growth of the last of the race is traced in this book from the Restoration period, when traditional Christian views of human destiny started to diminish, to the late 19th century, when new racial ending patterns had arisen following evolutionary and thermodynamic theories.Less

The Last of the Race : The Growth of a Myth from Milton to Darwin

Fiona J. Stafford

Published in print: 1994-06-16

This book describes and analyses the enduring interest in the last of the race through investigation into different treatments by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century writers. The analysis is influenced by both literary expressions and extensive reading of the historical accounts, diaries, and newspaper reports of individuals who have represented the last of their kind. Fictional and real-life accounts of last men and women were compared and found to be enlightening. The biography of Pu Yi or the history of St Kilda may also help explain novels, such as The Last Man by Mary Shelley, and provide insights into the psychology of the sole survivor and the social significance of the unique symbols. More insights into a literary figure, such as James Macpherson's Ossian (the last of Fingal's race), could be derived from the Reminiscences of Michael O'Guiheen (the last poet of the Great Blasket Island) more so than from a lot of academic woks. This literature presents an excellent example of the now unclear boundaries between fact and fiction, since the author's recollections of the Great Blasket Island community are interspersed with literary allusions to the Oisin of Irish legend. The growth of the last of the race is traced in this book from the Restoration period, when traditional Christian views of human destiny started to diminish, to the late 19th century, when new racial ending patterns had arisen following evolutionary and thermodynamic theories.

Richard North

Literature, Anglo-Saxon / Old English Literature, Mythology and Folklore

This book suggests that the Old English poem Beowulf was composed between the reigns of Kings Beornwulf (823-6) and Wiglaf (827-9 and 830-39) of Mercia, in the winter of 826-7, in the monastery of ...
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This book suggests that the Old English poem Beowulf was composed between the reigns of Kings Beornwulf (823-6) and Wiglaf (827-9 and 830-39) of Mercia, in the winter of 826-7, in the monastery of Breedon on the Hill in NW Leicestershire, by Abbot Eanmund (ruled 814x816-c.848). The premise seems clear enough in the Beowulf–Wiglaf sequence in the last fifth of Beowulf. With Old Norse analogues, Beowulf's kinship with Hygelac, friendship with Hrothgar, interest in Freawaru, later role as king and kinship with ‘Wiglaf’ are all argued to be the poet's invention, one fashioned partly on the model of Vergil's Aeneid, while the sequence of big names in the Geatish part of Beowulf, Offa of Angeln – Hygelac – Beowulf – Wiglaf, is taken to be a reference to leaders of Mercia: Offa – Cenwulf – Beornwulf – Wiglaf. Three tales from Viking mythology are presented as sources for morally defining moments in the poem. Beowulf's death and Wiglaf's uncrowned status at the end are used to date Beowulf to between 826, when Beornwulf died in battle, and 827, when the historical Wiglaf took over from an intermediary named Ludeca. It is concluded that Beowulf was Wiglaf's propaganda for succession, a requiem for Beornwulf from the man who wished to rule after him; that Wiglaf cast himself as his own ancestor; and that, in the words Eanmundes laf (‘Eanmund's legacy’, line 2611), nine lines after introducing Wiglaf (line 2602, head of Fitt XXXVI), the poet leaves us his signature.Less

The Origins of Beowulf : From Vergil to Wiglaf

Richard North

Published in print: 2007-02-08

This book suggests that the Old English poem Beowulf was composed between the reigns of Kings Beornwulf (823-6) and Wiglaf (827-9 and 830-39) of Mercia, in the winter of 826-7, in the monastery of Breedon on the Hill in NW Leicestershire, by Abbot Eanmund (ruled 814x816-c.848). The premise seems clear enough in the Beowulf–Wiglaf sequence in the last fifth of Beowulf. With Old Norse analogues, Beowulf's kinship with Hygelac, friendship with Hrothgar, interest in Freawaru, later role as king and kinship with ‘Wiglaf’ are all argued to be the poet's invention, one fashioned partly on the model of Vergil's Aeneid, while the sequence of big names in the Geatish part of Beowulf, Offa of Angeln – Hygelac – Beowulf – Wiglaf, is taken to be a reference to leaders of Mercia: Offa – Cenwulf – Beornwulf – Wiglaf. Three tales from Viking mythology are presented as sources for morally defining moments in the poem. Beowulf's death and Wiglaf's uncrowned status at the end are used to date Beowulf to between 826, when Beornwulf died in battle, and 827, when the historical Wiglaf took over from an intermediary named Ludeca. It is concluded that Beowulf was Wiglaf's propaganda for succession, a requiem for Beornwulf from the man who wished to rule after him; that Wiglaf cast himself as his own ancestor; and that, in the words Eanmundes laf (‘Eanmund's legacy’, line 2611), nine lines after introducing Wiglaf (line 2602, head of Fitt XXXVI), the poet leaves us his signature.

The book is about factual and fictional pirates and is therefore a deliberate combination of history and literary history. Swashbuckling eighteenth-century pirates were the ideal pirates of all time ...
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The book is about factual and fictional pirates and is therefore a deliberate combination of history and literary history. Swashbuckling eighteenth-century pirates were the ideal pirates of all time and are still popular today. Most people have heard of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, for example, although they lived about three hundred years ago. But most people have also heard of other pirates, such as Long John Silver and Captain Hook, although those pirates never lived at all, except in literature. So there have been two kinds of pirates—real and imaginary—but the real, historical pirates are themselves somewhat legendary, somewhat fictional, belonging on the page and the stage rather than on the high seas. The book discriminates and describes the ascertainable facts of real eighteenth-century pirate lives and then investigates how such facts were subsequently transformed artistically, by British and American writers like Defoe, Poe and Stevenson, into realistic and fantastic fictions of various kinds: historical novels, popular melodramas, boyish adventures, Hollywood films. The aim is to watch, in other words, the long dissolve from Captain Kidd to Johnny Depp.Less

Treasure Neverland : Real and Imaginary Pirates

Neil Rennie

Published in print: 2013-09-05

The book is about factual and fictional pirates and is therefore a deliberate combination of history and literary history. Swashbuckling eighteenth-century pirates were the ideal pirates of all time and are still popular today. Most people have heard of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, for example, although they lived about three hundred years ago. But most people have also heard of other pirates, such as Long John Silver and Captain Hook, although those pirates never lived at all, except in literature. So there have been two kinds of pirates—real and imaginary—but the real, historical pirates are themselves somewhat legendary, somewhat fictional, belonging on the page and the stage rather than on the high seas. The book discriminates and describes the ascertainable facts of real eighteenth-century pirate lives and then investigates how such facts were subsequently transformed artistically, by British and American writers like Defoe, Poe and Stevenson, into realistic and fantastic fictions of various kinds: historical novels, popular melodramas, boyish adventures, Hollywood films. The aim is to watch, in other words, the long dissolve from Captain Kidd to Johnny Depp.

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